The Lighthouse Keeper : A Reckoning Death - By Luisa Buehler

With a troubled
marriage, and the haunting memories of ghosts, bones, and dead bodies,
Grace Marsden needs solace. The invitation from her childhood friend
presents Grace with an opportunity for respite on Christian Island.

Georgian
Bay in the off-season provides a perfect venue for relaxation, until a
fluke snowstorm shatters the serenity. Grace and nine other people find
themselves trapped on the island and the prime suspects in the
mysterious death of an island Elder.

An ancient Indian tragedy,
island ghost sightings, and modern day treachery twist lives until more
deaths and more danger make Grace unsure of whom she can trust.

When the spirit of the lighthouse keeper beckons to her- is it to warn her or harm her?

The Lighthouse Keeper chooses to blend it's array of mystery into the
familiar warm and cozy tale, complete with cabins, snow, a close knit
of friends, and even endless cups of tea with the supernaturally
inclined (ghosts). While the plot was flawed in certain areas, the
overall picture was one worth admiring, enriched with captivating tales
of old family legends, potential ghosts and psychic abilities, small
island prejudices, and endless red herrings. Akin to the type of Ten
Little Indian story Christie was well known for writing, the heroine
even thinks to herself at times that they were in a similar situation to
that particular novel.

Character-wise, Grace is a
different sort of heroine. Awkward with a tendency to chomp down on her
Nikes when in social settings, she often makes the wrong choices. It's
easy to emphasize with someone who's not perfect, and she's certainly
not, particularly when it comes to her severe obsessive compulsive
disorder. This level of the disorder (outside of the TV show Monk, but
really there aren’t enough similarities to compare. ) isn't really
explored well in many books I've read. She did irritate me at times with
her presumptions about her brother Marty, but overall she's one I
rooted for all the way. Marty as the big brother was a lot of fun, which
oddly cute protectiveness toward his older sister. He did have the
tendency to delve into improper flirting with their friends wives, but
hey, all in good fun right? The others sort of blended together, all
nice (well, except for the villains of course). King could get on my
nerves at times, but toward the end I found myself falling in love with
his persona.

Buehler did well with suspense laden
scenes, stringing it tightly in certain spots, especially the
snow-shovel incident. I'm not sure why, but the cave scenario where
Gracie was lost gave me the creeps, reminding me a bit of The Howling 4.
The plots aren't the same at all, but it had that same disturbing
element of when they were lost in the tunnels. Violence is kept to a
minimum on "page", instead with bodies found afterwards.

At
first I feared the mystery itself would be cliché and too dramatic, but
through the middle of the book it picked up with some killer twists.
Sadly I struggled through some of the story, as the endless twists
seemed to at times twist amongst themselves. The result, rather than
being simply a hearty helping of mystery-laden story, instead became a
confusing labyrinth that almost grew exhausting. The Lighthouse Keeper
starts with strength, attempting a fierce grab of the reader's
attention. Unfortunately I found the first few chapters dangerously
veering toward melodrama and forced reaction, but thankfully Buehler was
able to smooth the way with little effort later on. Able to grasp on to
each character and be intrigued by their personalities enough to follow
the mystery, I held patience for it to become more complex. It did,
almost like it was spiced with street drugs, becoming extremely clever.

Red
herrings galore, continuous changes to keep a reader on their toes, and
strangly bizarre incidents kept me hooked. Buehler's style of writing
is worthy and, even if it does border of melodrama at times and with
certain dialogue phrases, it strays from becoming overly poetic/cloying.
Pacing was muffled at first, but then sped to an almost apocalyptic
speed that forces the reader to pay attention, else they lose their way.
Enriched with a comforting, warm feeling toward the end, The Lighthouse
Keeper ultimately succeeds in achieving its goal as being an
entertaining read.

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